A fundamental flaw of post-2017 industrial policy is that the Industrial Strategy failed to embed itself as touchstone for British industry. Each foundation and mission of the Strategy was appropriate in its own right, but in combination the Industrial Strategy was complex and remote. The ‘opportunistic’ nature of the agreed sector deals and their lack of ‘complementarity’ with the wider Industrial Strategy may have exacerbated this problem, given the role the deals may have played in shaping perceptions of the wider strategy among businesses in those sectors.